Veggie Menu (Week 11)

 Monday: Hot & Sour Soup

I wasn't feeling all that great, so my sweet hubster went down to get me some yummy soup!

I am so lucky!

Tuesday: Grilled Vegetarian Paella with Basil-Tomato Slaw

This was really tasty! 

It definitely took a long time though...

Of this recipe, I didn't use fennel, but I used all of the rest of the veggies listed and for the "slaw" I didn't have Chinese Black Vinegar. (I did add about a teaspoon of soy sauce, though.)

I only used 2 cups of rice and there was a ton leftover! 

Wednesday: Leftover night...

Leftover Polenta from last week, Hot & Sour soup and Veg Paella!

We ate a lot...

This was a short week...
More recipes to come next week!

Veggie Menu (Week 8)

Tuesday: Lasagna Rolls with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

This was delicious! 

1st thing...Don't use your microwave...

(Tune in tomorrow for the reasons!)

#2...IF you do, don't ever, ever, ever, ever! cover your food in plastic wrap!

Anyway, the sauce was delicious! And the 'stuffing' was delicious as well! 

I boiled 8 lasagna noodles and I had 1 extra because I ran out of the stuffing. Maybe I over stuffed them or I didn't make enough?

We each ate two and it was delicious! Rich definitely enjoyed dinner!

Wednesday: Four Cheese White Pizza

This was delicious! I added some tomatoes and onions (because we had it left over in the fridge) to half of the pizza. Rich liked that half better than the plain half. What I put on it is from this recipe and I added some balsamic to the mix as well.

Thursday: We had raviolis....We ended up going to a YWCA event and needed something quick.

Friday: We went to the Fresh Corn Grill and then out for drinks.
Fresh Corn Grill was delicious! So fresh and tasty!

Rich got a beer and I got a Lemon Drop...yes this is the least fancy Lemon Drop ever made...ha!

Saturday: Wokcano - Santa Monica
I was less than impressed..I wouldn't recommend this place...

Sunday: Brown Butter Gnocchi with Spinach and Pine Nuts
This was very tasty!
How I made it...
I used basil gnocchi from Cost Plus and instead of using pine nuts (because those are pricey!) we used walnuts. And we also added some Black Truffle Oil.
We ate this without the Truffle Oil and then decided to add it about half way in and it was tasty without the oil, and even better with it! YUM!

Veggie Menu (Week 4)

So Monday night, it Yoga night. 

We ate leftovers from Saturday - I told you there was a lot of leftovers!

Have you ever eaten at Daphne's? 

Greek Food? 

Good Stuff! 

(I think it may be a CA chain)

Tuesday and Wednesday it was just me, Rich was gone for work, so again, I ate leftovers ;-)

On Wednesday, I made a yummy treat because we had a ton of zucchini and summer squash in the fridge that needed to be eaten. And since it was just me, I ended up making brownies with them!

Our food processor has a feature to grate things. I have always knows this but had never used it.
And my, oh my! It was amazing!
So easy!
I'm sad I have been afraid to use it before!!

Thursday: Quinoa Black Bean Burrito Bowls 
Our own version...of course!
The quinoa=ahhhhmazing!
Make this and just eat it plain!
I cooked it with half chicken broth and half water
So tasty!
We used pinto beans, because that is what we had
(I think this is pretty much the story of our cooking lives)
I also cut up some roma tomatoes and sauteed them in with the onions and the garlic.
We grated some cheddar cheese and cut up an avocado (half per bowl - we like our avocados!)
Voila! Dinner is served!
And SOOO good!
(Yes, caps were necessary!)

I also made a snack.
As you saw before, we had a lot of squash and zucchini so I made Zucchini Patties that also had summer squash.
We snacked on them and then ate them for breakfast!
To eat them for breakfast, we just put them in the toaster oven for a few minutes, until fragrant!
They were amazing!
We used just the egg whites.
So cheesy!
I used the 4 Cheese Blend from Trader Joes - soo yummy!

Friday: Leftovers!

The best about having leftovers and only eating for 1 for most of the week, no trips to the grocery store!

Woohoo!

Saturday: We went out to dinner to http://www.nonnaofitaly.com/

We found a Travel Zoo coupon for this place! It was amazing!!

The restaurant was deliciousWe decided that the place was soo tasty, but a little expensive, so we wouldn't go there without a coupon.

We double date-nighted! With our super awesome friends!

Totally love this girl!

Sunday: We watched our neighbors 9 month old son and the family wined and dined us!

Thanksgiving Feast!

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is tomorrow?!

This is my first Thanksgiving without my mom :-( 

I know that I will miss her and I also know that I am so excited to celebrate my first holiday as a wife with my handsome husband!

This day could not be any slower...

I just want to get home and start roasting chestnuts, pealing yams and chopping and dicing veggies!

Our Thanksgiving Dinner Menu:

Cranberry & Orange Relish

None for Rich of course...the fruit hater...

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Herb Butter Roast Turkey

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Focaccia Stuffing with Sausage & Chestnuts

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Hard Cider Gravy

{using white wine}

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Sweet Potatoes with Pecans and Parmesan

{we are actually using yams, not sweet potatoes...}

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Green Beans with Bacon Vinaigrette

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Brie and Chive Biscuits

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I am not in charge of dessert...Rich's cousin is bringing that!

We will drink lots of wine - champagne for me :-) 

And just have a blast!

One of the things I am most excited for....

Using our wedding China! 

Ahh!!

I knew we got it all for a reason! 

:-)

Oh...and spending time with family and friends, too...

Chicken Burritos in the Crock Pot

This meal is super easy and so tasty!!

We buy chicken in bulk from Costco. It comes packaged in 2 breasts so it is the perfect amount for 2 plus leftovers for me for lunch!

The McCormick's Taco seasoning is the best! This container is also from Costco, and you are buy it in packets from the grocery store - I believe it is next to the spices.

Put the chicken in a bowl and cover the chicken in the taco seasoning. 

Make sure it is all covered.

We eat a lot of bell peppers. So we used about 1/2 of each and 1/2 of the onion and I added a small bunch of cilantro to the crock pot.

Saute the chicken on each side to lock in the taco flavor, max of 5 minutes on each side. You don't want to cook the chicken, just get the sides a little brown.

Slice the veggies

Put the chicken in the crock put

Add the veggies

cover all of the ingredients with salsa - We didn't have enough salsa to cover it so I added some chicken broth to the pot. You want to make sure that the chicken is fully covered.

I added salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and red chili flakes

we grated extra sharp cheddar and we sliced some fresh bell peppers for a different texture.

This is 2 avocados and a couple of table spoons of salsa - this is super easy and delicious!

YUUMM!

We cook about a cup of rice and added about a 1/2 can of pinto beans - we like to mix it up and use different beans every time.

The finished product!

Add some condiments to your burrito and enjoy!!

So tasty!

Pesto Pizza & Salad!

This is one of our very own!

From costco, we get chicken breasts that come in pre packaged 2 breasts. Let defrost and cut into small bite size chunks.

I seasoned this chicken with salt, pepper, italian seasoning and about a tablespoon of red wine vinegar.

*The red wine vinegar is so tasty and makes this tangy, it is my secret ingredient :-)

Cook the chicken until it is no longer pink inside.

The Chicken

To make the pesto, take just the leaves and put them in a food processor. Add EVOO and garlic (to your taste) and salt and pepper and process. For this type of pesto, I don't add too much EVOO because I want to make sure it doesn't make a mess of our oven and spill over the pizza! (it has happened!)

Basil, dough, tomato & mozzarella 

Put the pesto on the pizza, use as much or as little as you like, we did a thin layer.

We are teaching ourselves to like tomatoes so our slices are really thin!

We buy artichoke hearts from costco, in bulk, and added those

We slicked the mozzarella thinly, we did not shred it.

We roughly cut some garlic (we love love love garlic)

Put everything on the dough!

Bake for about 22 minutes

I definitely recommend the pizza dough from Trader Joes -- the Garlic & Herb.

It is so delicious and never dry!

Now for the Salad that we put on it...

I decided to continue with the pesto theme so I took some of our left over pesto sauce (about 1 tablespoon) and added EVOO and red wine vinegar and salt and pepper.

Mix it together. It is a little lighter and more 'dressing like'

The Finished product

Pecan and Walnut Pie

I get daily recipes from Real Simple in my email and this one came through a long time ago.

At work we had a potluck for one of the guys who was getting married. I asked him what he wanted me to make and he a.ok'd this pie!

All of the ingredients

Mixing everything together was super easy! 

I was worried about the crust, but it came out perfect!

How delicious does this look?!

I got compliments all day about it! It was delicious and I will definitely be making this again....even with all of the corn starch...Thanksgiving, here we come!

Pecan and Walnut Pie

Serves 8| Hands-On Time: 10m | Total Time: 4hr 00m

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup pecan halves
• 1 cup walnut halves
• 1 piecrust (store-bought refrigerated rolled or homemade), fitted into a 9-inch pie plate

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350° F. In a large bowl, whisk together the corn syrup, brown and granulated sugars, eggs, butter, vanilla, and salt. Mix in the pecans and walnuts.
2. Place the pie plate on a rimmed baking sheet. Fill with the nut mixture and bake until the center is set, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.